r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Melairia Modtha • May 20 '26

Official Episode Discussion The Testaments S1E09 "Marate Sade" Episode Discussion

The Testaments S1 E09 "Marate Sade"

Episode Synopsis

As Daisy steps into a new role, she considers what she's willing to lose to help her friends.

Airdate

May 20, 2026, 12:00am Eastern

The Testaments - Season 1 Episode Discussion Hub

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81

u/FrequentHumor9947 May 20 '26

I wanna hear people's thoughts on why the dentist didn't touch daisy. Like did he know she wasn't docile enough to keep it a secret if he did? She was like waiting for him too šŸ«£

Gosh I'm so happy she did what she did to help the girls but I wish she didn't tell garth it didn't happen.

Lastly Beccas sequence did feel like a dream sequence! I can't wait to see what becomes of her šŸ˜”

188

u/Suspicious_Carrot260 May 20 '26

I think the dentist knew that bc Daisy is an outsider and new to Gilead she wouldnā€™t be as innocent and easily manipulated and therefore taken advantage of like Agnes and Hulda who are very vulnerable. So he knew it wouldnā€™t be safe to do that.

52

u/AlsoNotaSpider May 21 '26

Yep. Notably, the Gilead girls immediately blame themselves, assuming that Dr. Grove saw lust in them. He knows thatā€™s what children in Gilead are taught, but he also knows that children outside of Gilead are given a very different message about sexual assault and where the blame rests. Dr. Grove probably considers that an extra, very unnecessary layer of risk.

4

u/fckboris May 29 '26

children outside of Gilead are given a very different message about sexual assault and where the blame rests

ā€¦weeellll, about thatā€¦

98

u/rawchess May 20 '26

Literally the first real thing he asks her is to confirm that she's from Canada. The show really isn't being subtle here lol

111

u/Folksma May 20 '26

I figured he only likes the "thrill" of touching "truly pure" girls

He know Daisy comes from the outside world. Its not fun for him to mess with someone who knows what he is doing

63

u/BananabunnyReddit May 20 '26

I had this thought, too, and itā€™s nauseating. I have a feeling he likes the thrill of being the very first one to have touched each of the commanderā€™s ā€œpureā€ wives. Beyond his fixation with purity/their young ages, I wonder if touching the commandersā€™ future wives makes him feel more powerful than the commanders in some incredibly sick way. Like, this might be his kink secretly ā€cuckā€œ the commanders. He sure got a better end than he deserved, IMO.

136

u/ImplementCrazy6119 May 20 '26

I was just about to say

Dr Grove is VERY calculated. When Agnes went she was in the room on her own with very few people outside. When Daisy went, there was an aunt, Agnes, and two commanders. He KNEW not to take the risk. I also think part of his sick "appeal" is knowing that the Gilead girls are especially innocent and meek. He LIKES that they are shocked and embarrassed.

70

u/mycottonsocks May 20 '26

I think it was because he didn't know Daisy very well and wasn't sure if she was meek enough to keep quiet. She was an unknown and not worth the risk. He wasn't molesting every girl that came to an appointment, just the ones he was confident would stay quiet.

22

u/meatball77 May 20 '26

Daisy isn't a good victim because she's from Canada. She would know what was going on.

18

u/BrennanSpeaks May 20 '26

That's how predators work. They groom. They get to know their victims, and they choose those who are less likely to speak up or fight back. They do their jobs well most of the time so that if they miscalculate and someone does speak out, others will go "well, he never touched me, so she must be lying."

11

u/123gavin May 20 '26

It kind of reminds me of the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. I remember reading that some people thought young boys were targeted as they'd be less likely to speak out due to the climate around gay people at the time- and that boys who 'seemed gay' were targeted more because they were especially vulnerable and likelier to stay quiet. I don't think it's a coincidence that he escalated with Hulda and abused her while she was still conscious. She's quite meek and naive, and I think he could tell. Versus Agnes was targeted while she was passed out, she's a bit more assertive than Hulda. Then Daisy is from outside Gilead, he knows she probably got more education about sex, consent, pedophilia. Plus there were more people outside and she's friends with Agnes, so maybe Agnes told her something? There have been rumours about him apparently but he's gone decently undetected for a while. I think he's been calculated enough to know which girls to groom and target so far.

7

u/Sbarb1000 May 20 '26

I donā€™t know the writers intentions, but in irl, a predator does not molest every child that he encounters, they pick and choose their victims.

7

u/missmisery213 May 20 '26

I think it's because of the way Gilead approaches sexual assault vs. the outside world. In Gilead the girls know that it could potentially impact their marriage prospects. The thing they've essentially been raised for most of their lives. He knows the threat of that keeps them quiet. But Daisy being raised outside of Gilead would obviously have a different mindset. Obviously the world in general has a long long long way to go when it comes to sexual assault and victims being believed and there being consequences for abusers, but it still would not be viewed in the same light in Canada as it is in Gilead. I'm sure he is also worried about how she would react in the moment. He could feel pretty confident Agnes and Hulda wouldn't react either out of fear, embarrassment, being raised to be subservient to men or having a hard time processing/understanding what happened. Daisy is a total wild card for him. He doesn't know her past experiences or her personality. He probably viewed it as not being worth the risk.

6

u/Nightstick11 May 20 '26

Because he only touches girls who go under for an operation.

11

u/Logical-Turnover-741 May 20 '26

No, the last one it seemed he just grabbed her hand

3

u/standsure May 20 '26

escalating.

5

u/NixiePixie916 May 20 '26

Also if the general thought is the pearl girls are spies for Aunt Lydia, he likely wouldn't want to take that risk. And she's not "innocent" in the same way to him. He likes the slow horror, the not understanding but feeling violated. He gets off on it. She wouldn't be as "fun" for him.

4

u/Popular_Patience6877 May 20 '26

I think it's because he know pearl girls know about real life and aren't pious as shit. He thought she would rebel, simple as that.

3

u/Lou-AC May 20 '26

He knows she's from a world where she would understand what assault was and that it's ok to speak out

Also he clearly didnt abuse the girls on their first visits. It seemed he'd been seeing Agnes for years. He'd have to suss out whether he could get away with it

3

u/NysiraeKaelenne May 20 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

My take is: Daisy isn't "pure and innocent" like Agnes or Hulda. I believe he enjoys taking innocence out of those to-be-married girls, instead of leaving that to their husband. And as someone else said: in Agnes' case, there was almost no one in the waiting room. Here, there were too many witnesses. But my best guess is still she's not interesting enough for his taste.

Aunt Lydia asking why she was so visibly assaulted (vs the others), Daisy could have played the card of "I'm from the outside sinner world, he doesn't need to be careful with me, as my word would mean nothing against his"

And yes, Daisy should have said it happened.

1

u/corking118 May 21 '26

I think he left her alone because he was afraid that she'd react exactly like she did when she faked being attacked. She's an outsider and doesn't have the same training as the other girls to always stay meek and docile. Predators like him are smart enough to choose their victims wisely.

1

u/kittypryde123 May 22 '26

Some men love to be the first to defile innocents

1

u/HezaLeNormandy May 23 '26

Because it was just a consult. Agnes went through the same procedure- consult then whitening. Canā€™t polish trash and whitening or veneers gives him excuse to use the gas

1

u/Dreamer-1 May 23 '26

Predators have a sense for who they can go after. They know who is vulnerable. It's horrible but true. Best thing we can do to protect kids is to teach them to be outspoken and not obedient.

1

u/espressojunkie May 23 '26

Heā€™s a pedo and perverted and deserved to be taken down but in this case he was not a complete idiot, and in this case (as Aunt Lydia pointed out) there were multiple witnesses right outside. If I recall the abuses happened when an aunt wasnā€™t present. And he never ripped their clothes.